Sliding partition mechanism



Sept. 4, 1962 B. FERRETT SLIDING PARTITION MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 7, 1960 Sept. 4, 1962 B. FERRETT 3,052,000

sunmc; PARTITION MECHANISM Filed Nov. 7, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 4, 1962 York Filed Nov. 7, 1960, Ser. No. 67 ,849 4 Claims. (Cl. 20-19) This invention relates to storage mechanism for the sliding partitions used in forming a temporary wall to thereby divide a room into two rooms.

The storage mechanism for storing wall partitions consists of an overhead unit co-operating with a floor un1t disposed directly therebeneath.

To effect storage of the wall partitions in an out-ofthe-way area, these co-operating units are often concealed in a closet of minimum area. Accordingly the partitions forming the wall are disposed in close parallel relationship in a rapid manner. The partitions are each provided on their top edge with a pair of spaced-apart upright elements adapted to be disposed in a ceiling channel and on their bottom edge with a pair of spaced-apart depending elements adapted to be disposed in a floor channel.

It is an object of this invention to provide partition storage mechanism which is jam-proof in operation.

It is another object of this invention to provide bottom rocker elements disposed in the floor storage unit coacting with top rocker elements disposed in the ceiling storage unit, said pairs of rocker elements being actuated simultaneously by said upright elements and said depending elements disposed suitably in said top edge and said bottom edge of said partitions.

It is a further object to provide storage mechanism for said partitions which is easily and smoothly operated with a minimum of effort.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following descriptive disclosure taken in connection the accompanying drawing in which;

FIG. 1 is a view of the rear of the ceiling storage unit showing a pair of centrally pivoted rocker arms showing by means of arrows the path of travel of a partition,

FIG. 2 is a view of the rear of the ceiling storage unit of FIG. 1 showing one of the rocker arms disposed in a position whereby the partitions are shunted in the central storage track as shown by the arrows,

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the other rocker arm disposed so as to permit storage of the partitions by direct linear movement into the ceiling storage unit,

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3 and showing the manner of construction of the ceiling plate.

FIG. 5 is a view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4 and showing the manner of seating to block off a storage channel and for directing a partition to an adjacent channel,

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the forward guide pin disposed in the front of the top edge of a partition.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the operating or rear guide pin disposed in the rear of the top edge of a partition,

FIG. 8 is a top view of the floor storage unit showing in dotted outline the centrally pivoted plates and their respective pivoted shoe plates disposed on the rear surface of the floor unit and showing by arrow the path of travel of a partition to the outermost channel track,

FIG. 9 is a top view of the floor unit showing the location of a pivoted plate for directing partitions to the middle channel track,

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 but showing the second pivoted plate disposed so as to effect storage of the partitions in direct linear relationship to the partition channel disposed in the room adapted for sub-division,

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a partition broken in four parts, showing the manner of disposing the upright elements captively in a ceiling storage channel in relationship to the manner of disposing the depending lug elements captively in a floor storage channel,

FIG. 12 is a vertical section View showing the manner of by-passing an engagement roller of a pivot plate disposed in a ceiling channel by the channeled forward guide pin and showing also the manner of by-passing an engagement stud of a pivot plate of a floor unit by the short depending lug disposed in the front of the partition beneath said forward guide pin,

FIG. 13 is a vertical section similar to FIG. 12 but showing the manner of actuating simultaneously the respective ceiling pivot plate and a co-acting floor pivot plate by means of the solid octagonal guide pin disposed in the rear of the partition top edge co-acting with a depending lug of suitable length adapted to contact slidingly a lug in said floor pivot plate,

FIG. 14 is a schematic break-away view showing the manner of moving a shoe plate by a moving partition from a blocking position in one channel to a blocking position in another channel,

FIG. 15 is a view taken on line 15-15 of FIG. 13 showing the shape of the operating or rear depending lug on a partition,

FIG. 16 is a view of the innermost ceiling pivot plate and its pivoted shoe plate,

FIG. 17 is a view of the nearest ceiling pivot plate nearest to the throat channel of the ceiling storage unit,

FIG. 18 is a view of the innermost floor pivot plate showing a loosely pivoted shoe plate secured thereto, and

FIG. 19 is a view of the nearest floor pivot plate nearest to the throat channel of the floor storage unit.

An important feature of this invention is the provision of co-acting pivot plates in a ceiling storage unit and in a floor storage unit, each plate having loosely pivoted shoe plates, said shoe plates being adapted to seat alternately in ailjacent channel when said pivot plate is partly rotate The shoe plates are each provided with curved or sloped surfaces on their edges to permit sliding engagement with actuating elements disposed in the horizontally disposed edges of said partitions.

The pivot plates are centrally pivoted so as to produce an alternate rocker effect and are provided with stationary upright lugs on the end opposed to the end having the pivoted shoe plate.

In short, according to this invention the centrally pivoted plates of this invention are each provided with a stationary lug or roller at one end and with a loosely pivoted shoe of suitable peripheral contour at the other end. Said pivoted plates are pivotally disposed on the storage unit so that the lugs thereon are disposed operativ'ely in a respective channel track and away from the shoe plate. The shoe plates are each disposed at the juncture of two channel tracks so that their respective movement is limited from blocking one channel to blocking the adjacent channel. Thus by this invention, pushin-g actuation of the lug located at one end of the pivot plate causes the plate to rotate a limited distance causing the shoe plate of the pivot plate to move from one channel blocking position to another channel blocking position thereby shunting successive or following partitions to a new channel track in the storage mechanism.

When the partitions are pulled out of their storage, the respective upright and depending elements on the rear of the top and bottom edges of the partition slidingly hit a sloped or curved surface of the shoe plate causing it to move slidingly out of the way into an adjacent channel.

Turning now to the drawing, a ceiling plate It] for example of steel, is provided with a channel inlet and throat 11 and with a main dual flange channel 12, an intermediate branched flanged channel 13, an innermost flanged channel 14, and a communicating channel 15. Channels 12, 13, and 14 are disposed in parallel relationship so that the stored partitions therein are also disposed in parallel relationship. FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 show the rear or top surtace of the ceiling unit, showing also the pivoted plates used to shunt the top portion of the partitions.

The floor unit, which in general corresponds to the ceiling unit, is provided with a steel bar plate 20 having parallel spaced-apart suitably shaped strips 21 of flat :bar iron welded thereto. The strips of bar iron are thus disposed so as to :form a series of interconnected channels. The first channel 23 is in linear relationship to the incoming channel forming a throat 22 with the branch channel 26. Channel 26 communicates first with an intermediate channel 24 and lastly with an innermost channel 25.

Throat 22 of the floor unit 20 is disposed vertically below throat 11 of the ceiling plate, with channel 23 being directly below flanged channel 12 of the ceiling unit. The iron strips 21 are undercut at the apical point of juncture of the branch channel 26 and the storage channels 23 and 24 to provide an overhanging lip 27 (FIG. 14) underneath which the shoe plate of the pivot plate may pass. The lip 27 functions as a load bearing surface for the wheels of the partitions.

The top of each partition 3%) is provided with a pair of upright guide pins. The guide pins are of two types, namely channeled by-pass pins 31 and non-channeled or solid pins 32 (FIG. 7). The pins 31 are provided with a suitable octagonal or preferably oval head 33 having a suitable channel 34 therein and a press fitted stem 35 disposed slidingly in a suitable cavity in the partition since the head 33 is suspended on the channel flanges 36 of ceiling plate 10.

The solid guide pin 32 is provided with a solid guide plate 37 which has a nose portion 38X adapted to push aside a roller pin 38 disposed on a pivot plate and in a ceiling channel. The nose portion 38 of guide plate 37 may be oval but where the roller pin 38X is not pushed into the center of a channel but rather a .bit oif center, a flat slope area of the nose 38 is: operable.

Turning now to FIGS. 1 to 7, the ceiling plate is provided with an elongated or first pivot plate 40. A shoe plate 41 having a suitable periphery is provided with a point 42, a flat side 43 for engaging a channel 12 side wall, a top rounded edge 44 for engagement with the rear end 39 of the guide plate 37 opposite nose 38 should the shoe plate be inadvertently in the linear channel 12 after partitions have been stored therein.

The shoe plate 41 is also provided with a curved edge 45 for engagement with a rear nose portion 39 of a guide plate 37 when the occasion warrants. Lastly plate 41 is provided with a suitably curved edge 46 to snugly engage the throat 11 where the communicating channel begins.

The pivot plate 40 is also provided with a conventional roller pin 38X at its end opposite to the shoe plate 41. The shoe plate 41 is loosely pivoted to plate 40 by a journal pin 47. The pivot plate is journaled to the ceiling plate 10 by a journal pin 48 disposed suitably between channels 12 and 13.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 a curved aperture 50 is disposed in the plate 10 in the throat channel 11 and the shoe plate is disposed on the inside surface of the throat 11 so that the ceiling plate 10 is between the shoe plate 41 and the pivot bar 40. A second curved aperture 51 is suitably disposed in channel 13 and partly through a portion of the channel wall into a suitable cavity therein for receiving the roller pin 38X.

A second pivot plate 52 is journaled by pin 53 to ceiling plate 10 between channels 13 and 14. Plate 52 is provided atone end with a conventional roller pin 38X or in lieu thereof a suitable round lug, and at the other end it is provided with a shoe plate 54 of suitable peripheral contour, journaled loosely to plate 52 by a pin 55 (FIG. 5). As shown in FIG. 5, shoe plate 54 is provided with a curved edge 56 adapted to seat against the curved channel side 57. Plate 54 is also provided with a linear portion 58 adapted to be in linear relationship with side 59 of the communicating channel 15 when edge 56 is seated against channel side 57. Shoe plate 54 is further provided with a rounded edge portion 60 for engaging a rear nose portion 39 of a guide pin head 37 thereby being pushed out of the position shown in FIG. 5 to its position against channel wall 57. The ceiling plate 10 is provided with a suitable curved aperture 61 to receive the journal pin of a roller pin 38X and it is also provided with another suitable aperture 62 for receiving journal pin 55.

In operating the ceiling plate unit the partitions are first led into channel 14. Each partition 30 need not contain both guide pins 31 and 32, since a partition may contain only a pair of channeled guide pins 31 in its top edge.

Partitions containing only channeled guide pins 31 are passed over the roller pin 38X. However the last partition stacked in channel track 14 must contain in its top rear edge a actuating solid guide pin 38 so that it will push the roller pin 38X out of the channel 15 in the cavity 64 disposed in the ceiling plate, simultaneously pulling the shoe plate 52 out of channel 13 into blocking position of channel 15 as shown in FIG. 5. Thus more partitions containing only a pair of channeled guide pins 31 are routed into channel track 14 until a last partition containing a solid guide pin 32 is routed into this channel 14. Thereupon the roller pin 38X of the pivot plate 40 is pushed into its cavity 65 with simultaneous seating of the shoe plate 41 from its position blocking oif channel 12 (FIG. 2) to its position blocking olT communicating channel 15. Thus all subsequent partitions are now routed straight into channel 12. All these latter partitions may be provided with solid guide pins 32 as there is no chance of encounter with a roller pin 38X in channel 12.

To pull out the partitions 30 from channel 12 to start forming the room divider wall, the partitions encounter no obstacles. However, if by accident shoe 41 were in channel 12 when partitions 30 were stored therein, no disadvantage results as the nose portion 39' of a guide pin would hit edge 47 of said shoe plate 41 and push it out of the way.

Turning now to the floor storage unit and more specifically to FIGS. 8 to 15 and FIGS. 18 and 19, there is provided a first floor pivot plate (FIG. 19) secured to the underside of the floor unit 20 by a journal pin 71. The plate 70 is provided with a lug 72 at one end which is disposed in a curved aperture '73 disposed in part in channel track 24. The other end of plate 70 is provided with a shoe plate 74 loosely journaled thereon by a journal pin .75. Shoe plate 74 of the floor unit has the general configuration of shoe plate 41 (FIG. 17) of the ceiling unit, being provided with a linear straight edge 76 for engaging the channel 23 wall and also with a curvilinear edge 77 adapted to engage the bottom side wall of channel 26 (FIG. 8). The edges 76 and 77 meet at an apex at one end and are united by a curved edge 78 adapted to slidingly engage a suit ably long depending push pin 79 disposed at the rear of the bottom edge of a partition 30 (FIG. 11).

A second pivot plate '80 is journaled by a pin 81 in the floor plate 20 between channels 24 and 25. The plate 80 is provided with a stationary upright lug 82 disposed in a curved aperture 83 and protruding into channel 26.

A shoe plate 84, substantially similar in peripheral contour to shoe plate 54 of the ceiling unit, is journaled loosely to the pivot plate 89' by a journal pin 85. Shoe plate 84 is provided with a straight edge portion 86 for engagement with the straight wall of the floor branch channel 26 and also with a curved portion 87 for engagement with the curved wall of channel 24 at the point of juncture of channel 24 to channel 26. The edges 86 and 87 meet at an apex at one end and are bounded by a curved edge portion 88 which effects a pushing-sliding contact with an upright lug 79 whenever the two come in contact.

In the operation of the floor unit the partitions are provided with a pair of depending lugs disposed at all times in a floor channel. As shown in FIGS. 11, 12, and 13, a short lug 90 is secured to a conventional load bearing wheel assembly 92 having a roller wheel 93 and disposed in the front of the bottom edge of the partition directly beneath the channeled guide pin 33 located in the top edge of said partition. The long lug 79 is disposed in a conventional wheel assembly 92. However as shown in FIG. 13 the length of the lug and the cross section thereof is such as to rubbingly and slidingly engage an upright lug 72 disposed in a floor pivot Plate when such lug 72 is in the path of travel of the depending lug 79. The resultant effect is that lug 72 is pushed out of the channel into a receiving cavity disposed adjacent to the channel, causing thereby a partial rotation of the pivot plate 70 and hence movement of the shoe plate 74 from a blocking position of one channel to a blocking of the channel in which the upright lug 72 was originally located. The location of the shoe 74 now blocking one of two channels causes the partition to take the open channel. Thus the many shoe plates of this invention each function in the manner of an oscillatory gate disposed alternately in one of two channels.

The shoe plates are operable in pairs being disposed in a ceiling unit and directly below in a floor unit. These pairs of shoe plates are secured to respective ends of pivot plates having a central journal pin, said pivot plates having protruding means adapted to be frictionally or slidingly moved laterally by a suitable engagement element disposed in the top and directly beneath in the bottom edge of the partition. Said protruding means being disposed in an aperture in an adjacent storage channel for limited movement into and out of said channel, depending on whether the lug of the pivot plate is pushed or whether the shoe plate which is secured to the pivot plate is pushed.

Accordingly, this invention provides at the juncture of each pair of storage channels, a spaced-apart reciprocally moveable partition directing channel blocking means or shoe plates each secured to a substantially centrally pivoted lever element having thereon a small non-partition directing channel blocking means or lug whereby movement of the non-partition blocking means or lug in one direction effected by lugs or pins on a partition causes said partition blocking means to move in the opposed direction at the juncture of two storage channels thereby directing subsequent partitions into a newly opened channel.

Various modifications of this invention are possible, thus while the long depending lug or pin 79 is preferably provided with a somewhat hemispherical cross section, clearly round pins are operable.

Also while the pivot plates are generally substantially centrally pivoted, the location of the pivot journal may be off center depending upon the location of the upright lug on the pivot plate and the location of the respective curved aperture in the channel.

Clearly the shape of the shoe-plates may also be varied provided the necessary partition directing curved edges are present. Also while the ceiling and floor unit may be from solid plate metal made by suitable provision of grooves, it is also feasible and advantageous to make the ceiling and the floor units by suitable joining of suitably shaped metal sheets of relatively thin plate stock to thereby form the channel side walls.

This invention has been described by means of an illustrative embodiment but clearly it is not limited to this embodiment, since many non-inventive or obvious modifications thereof are possible.

I claim:

1. A combined sliding partition and storage apparatus for storing vertically disposed wall-forming partitions at an end of the Wall line comprising a ceiling plate unit having an incoming channel, a plurality of parallel disposed channels, and a branch channel communicating between said incoming channel and said parallel channels, said channels having a pair of opposed flanges therein; a co-acting floor plate unit having like-configuration, nonflanged channels disposed directly below said ceiling unit, said ceiling plate unit and said floor plate unit each having pairs of like co-operating curved apertures, one aperture being disposed at the juncture of two channels and the other aperture of the co-operating pair being disposed in the adjacent storage channel; a front non-pivot plate operating and a rear pivot plate operating guide element disposed in 'spaced-apart relationship in the top edge of each partition and suspendingly from the flanges of said ceiling channels; a front non-pivot plate operating and a rear pivot plate operating depending guide lug, each secured to a conventional wheel assembly which is secured in spaced-apart relationship in the bottom edge of said partition, the front guide element being provided with a non-pivot plate operating groove and the front guide lug being of a non-pivot plate operating foreshortened length; pivot plate rneans centrally and pivotally secured to the rear face of both the ceiling and the fioor storage units between each pair of storage channels therein; an actuating pin disposed fixedly at one end of said pivot plate and captively through one of said curved apertures disposed in a storage channel; a shoe plate secured by a journal pin loosely to the other end of said pivot plate, said journal pin being disposed in a co-operating aperture disposed in the juncture of the adjacent storage channel, said shoe plate being disposed in a storage channel; said rear pivot plate operating guide element of said partition top edge and said pivot plate operating rear lug of said partition bottom edge slidingly engaging simultaneously the actuating pins of said pivot plate in the ceiling and floor unit whereby said actuating pins are pushed out of their respective ceiling and floor channels causing the respective pivot plates to rotate so as to move the respective shoe plates at respective junctures of the ceiling and floor channels from the blocking position of one channel to a position blocking off the channel that received the incoming actuating partition, whereby subsequent incoming partitions are routed to the newly opened channel by said shoe plates.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising shoe plates each having a first edge portion adapted to blockingly seat against a side wall of one channel at a juncture between two channels, a second edge portion converging to an apex with said first edge portion and adapted to blockingly seat against a side wall of an adjacent channel, and a third curved edge portion adapted to slidingly engage a guide element respectively disposed on the rear of the top and the rear of the bottom edge of the partition whereby outward movement of said partition from storage causes said guide element to push said shoe plate aside into an adjacent channel.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said guide elements disposed in the top of said partitions are each provided with an ovaloid head plate adapted to be disposed on said dual flanges of a ceiling channel, each having a fixed depending stem adapted to slidingly move in a cavity disposed in the top edge of said partition.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the operating depending lug disposed on the rear of the bottom edge of a partition is provided with a first curved surface which on movement into a storage channel is adapted to pushingly engage said upright lug of said pivot plate to move the shoe plate thereon into a blocking position of said storage channel, said lug being further provided with a second curved surface which is diametrically opposed to said first surface whereby movement of said partition out of said storage channel causes said second surface to pushingly engage said shoe plate, forcing it out of its blocking position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,778,051 MenZ Jan. 22, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 13,652 Great Britain June 3, 1897 942,965 Germany May 9, 1956 

